Overflowing gutters can cause a homeowner major problems that might be expensive to fix. If you’ve been dealing with water spilling out of the gutter channel for a while, it’s time to take action. Stopping them now or preventing gutters from overflowing in the future will protect your home from potentially serious water damage.
Regular Gutter Maintenance
It can’t be emphasized enough – cleaning the gutters and keeping downspouts free of debris is the best defense against overflowing gutters. While a semi-annual cleaning schedule (once in the spring, once in the fall) is a good guideline, take other factors into account. Twice a year might not be sufficient if you live in a high rainfall region; have a lot of trees growing near the house; or another microclimate condition (windier in the southwest corner of the roof) that adds more debris to your gutter system.
Gutter Pitch
Overflowing gutters can also be attributed to incorrect pitch. Like anything else in, on or around your home, gutters are prone to shifting. The pitch of the gutters should optimally slope toward the downpipe. Especially if you have two or more downpipes, the position of the gutters in relation to respective downspouts should be properly pitched and aligned to ensure correct drainage.
More or Larger Gutters
If the overflowing gutter problem isn’t improved by regular maintenance and/or checking the position of the gutters, consider installing more gutters or replacing the current gutter system with one that is larger. Installing gutters on all side of your house or increasing the size of the gutter channel can reduce the chance of overflow by increasing the amount of water being managed at one time.
Leaf Protection
When you’re hauling out the ladder every other weekend during the rainy season to de-gunk the gutters, perhaps it’s time to add some kind of leaf protection. While a gutter guard system should not entirely eliminate have to clean them, it will noticeably reduce the amount of debris and loose material entering the gutters. There are several kinds of gutter guards to choose from, including screens and filters: select the one that will best enhance your current gutter system.
